News

Greetings from the President

Dear New Life Foundation board members and supporters

Greetings from NLF Tanzania. It is my pleasure to once again touch base with our friends, donors, and supporters, and give updates on various projects currently in progress here at New Life Foundation Tanzania.

Contained herein is a short annual update of various projects and activities currently ongoing at New Life Foundation Tanzania. With the grace of God, we have made some steady progress over the last year on many of our ongoing projects. We have revived our long-stagnant construction project of the story-building at the primary campus and our farms have produced consistent yield over the previous year. A lot of this is thanks to your generous donation and support which continues to touch the lives of many children here in Tanzania. Blessings,
Glorious Shoo

TANZANIA UPDATE
Condition of the children
Thanks to your kind donations and prayers our students are not only thriving academically, but they are very healthy. This is in large part due to the healthy meals provided at the school, the variety of sports activities after class hours, the restful and peaceful environment at the school, and of course, the grace of God that sustains and nourishes our spirit and body. m
Healthwise Healthy Food

Over the last year, students have not only enjoyed a more diversified balanced diet but have also enjoyed quite a bit of choice food as well. In addition to the regular food, our Chicken Project supplemented the children’s diet with eggs and chicken, our farms also produced sufficient quantities of food crops that added variety to the regular diet.
Spiritually
Praying Child

Thanks to a fruitful partnership between International Children’s minister, Lauren Wiberg, and New Life Foundation, our students’ spiritual lives are better than ever! Our students ministered in the largest children's festival of its kind in Moshi, and receive regular, interactive online lessons from the children’s minister.
Academically
We had a 100% pass rate of all our students who sat for the Form 4 national examinations last year. Form 4 is the last year of Ordinary Level (O Level) secondary school education in Tanzania which roughly equates to year 11 of school for students.

The Secondary School Project
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The new secondary building currently under construction sits at a spacious 8-acre piece of land owned by New Life Foundation Tanzania. The plot of land is situated about a 10 minutes drive from the Headquarters. The current progress of the construction project is as follows:
The Foundation: The most expensive and laborious part of the project so far. Given the size of the building, the nature of the soil, and the uneven terrain of the area, this step posed an engineering and logistical challenge. It required a deeper-than-usual foundation depth which meant more manpower, resources, etc.
Walls: The walls were erected soon after the foundation of the building was set in place. They enclose four classrooms, two sets of toilets and bathrooms on each end, and a corridor at the center.
The Roof: The entire 52m long building is roofed with iron sheets. This involved a deep framework process which was later by iron sheets. Plastering and flooring: The entire walls and floor of the building are plastered and floored. What is left to be done
Plumbing and drainage: Due to the ongoing rainy season in the area, it is especially challenging properly install a drainage system in the building this time. The wet season not only makes it challenging to install a drainage system in the area, but it makes it unsafe for the workforce given the amount of digging that is expected to happen. This step will follow soon after the wet season has subsided enough to allow the safe installation of a plumbing system.
Painting: Like plumbing, it is best advised to paint the building in the dry season. The regular rainfalls pose a risk of washing out the new paint and may discolor some parts of the building. Final touches: Finally, the remaining part of the project would be to finalize some touches such as installing windows, doors, and the wiring system.
Prognosis The lead project manager, Eng. Maro estimates the first phase of the project is nearly 82% completed with major a major final push of the project expected to be soon after the rainy season which is expected to end in mid-June. The building is expected to host NLF’s secondary school students. It is part of a grand plan to relocate the current secondary school buildings and facilities to the new area which is also expected to host major infrastructures like sports fields and dining hall. The first phase involves the construction of four classrooms some of which may be used as dormitories during the first phase of relocation.

Painting: Like plumbing, it is best advised to paint the building in the dry season. The regular rainfalls pose a risk of washing out the new paint and may discolor some parts of the building. Final touches: Finally, the remaining part of the project would be to finalize some touches such as installing windows, doors, and the wiring system.

Primary School
New Life Foundation owns a total of 43 acres, including a newly purchased piece of land adjacent to the Primary Campus. Construction at the Primary School Campus Following the successful completion of the ground floor of the projected multi-story building at NLF’s primary school in 2018, the second phase of the project continued earlier this year. The second phase of the project involves building two floors on top of the current ground floor building. The multi-story building is expected to house classrooms, a computer laboratory, a dining hall, and teachers’ offices. The project is currently on hold pending statutory paperwork from the local government. This paperwork and permit approvals are typical of multi-story building projects and it is expected to continue once the approval is confirmed. The Library building Last year marked the successful completion of a library building at New Life Foundation primary school. The modern library was designed and constructed from empty freight containers that had once transported and stored food for the students. The newly innovative library is now a colorful resource of educational material for both teachers and students. The project was sponsored by supporters from the USA and is equipped with modern facilities like Air Conditioning, glass windows, and wood flooring making it a popular spot on campus.

The farm Project
Plantings

New Life Foundation Tanzania is blessed to have over 25 acres of arable purchased by our supporters around the world. Over the last year, the farms have been a constant source of fresh, nutritious food for the school. This includes a variety of crops such as maize and beans, popular stable foods in Tanzania. Other crops harvested from the farms over the last year include tomatoes, vegetables, and pawpaw fruit. It is currently the rainy season in Tanzania and maize crops and beans are sprouting from the farms. Our farm manager, Frank Ng’oo estimates it will be a successful harvest!

Newly paved Primary School Campus
In a major step to promote a clean and safe environment at our Primary School Campus, all the walkways and open area was neatly paved. This project was 100% funded by our supporters. This upgrade eliminates the persistent dust problems during summer and sticky mud problems during the rainy season.

Professional Development for NLF staff
This year the administrator at New Life Foundation Head Quarters in Moshi, Mrs. Irene Kivuyo, went for a professional development program in the USA. The program was brought about through a partnership between NLF and Cincinnati Christian Schools (CCS) in the USA where Mr. Ray Kochis, serves as the Superintendent of the schools. In previous years, NLF ran a similar exchange program with Hebron Christian College in New Zealand where staff would go to New Zealand for a professional development program.

University Land 20 Bomang'omb e 9 Secondary School Land 8 Primary School Campus 4.5 Fountain of Zoe Campus 1.5 The Prognosis The lead project manager, Eng. Maro estimates the first phase of the project is nearly 82% completed with major a major final push of the project expected to be soon after the rainy season which is expected to end in mid-June. The building is expected to host NLF’s secondary school students. It is part of a grand plan to relocate the current secondary school buildings and facilities to the new area which is also expected to host major infrastructures like sports fields and dining hall. The first phase involves the construction of four classrooms some of which may be used as dormitories during the first phase of relocation.

Arusha National Park Study Tour - 2021

Walter SIlas

Published on 2021-09-23

Fountain of Hope Christian School is located on the north-eastern side of Tanzania about 800m above sea level at a strategic location in Moshi town. Right from the school one can see Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain, with its ice-capped peak rising above the clouds. Visitors from abroad enjoy the absolute beauty of this view and the general atmosphere of chill and tranquillity around the school environment.

Students at Fountain of Hope Christian School go on a school trip at least a once-a-year to one of the five national parks within a day’s drive from the school. In the past, our students have enjoyed hiking Mt Kilimanjaro, safari drives to wildlife parks, and cultural trips to museums and historical sites. These experiences have been priceless to our children as they get to connect with nature and history, whilst refreshing and enjoying.

Study Tour 2021

This year, was no different. Our candidate classes, grade 7 and Form 4, got a first-hand wildlife experience as they made a drive through the rainforest reserve of Mt Meru in Arusha National Park. Grade 7 and Form 4 will graduate on the 25^th of September 2021, and we thought it best to send them home with a fresh memory of a picnic.

The day started at 7:00 am, everyone was dressed and ready to go. A short while after, the tour bus pulled up on the school’s driveway. The children excitedly loaded their lunch and drinks to the bus. By 7:30 am, everything was set for Arusha National Park. After a prayer from one of the class teachers, we were on our way...

The two-and-a-half-hour drive to Arusha National Park didn’t feel anything like 150 minutes at all – it was more like 10 minutes. The atmosphere inside the bus was that of praise, worship, and nothing but good vibes.

Yes! They even brought a guitar on a safari trip – because why not?

We were in good spirits as we pulled up at the entrance gate of the Arusha National Park. The National Park is popular with elephants, so it was only fitting for our tour guides to brief us in front of an exact replica of a mature male elephant at the park’s entrance gate. Because, again, why not?

Giant Elephant
Courtesy of Season Master Adventures

Here is a fun-fact about elephants!
Elephants are almost always eating? They can eat well over 130 kg of food a day! Not only that but their poor digestion leaves most of the food they eat essentially unprocessed, so they help disperse seeds of various plants and vegetation by defecating everywhere. In simple terms, elephants plant trees – did you know that?

After a quick briefing and some photo-shoots at the park's entrace, we were underway on our game drive.

The Drive

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Arusha national park feels like a few national parks squeezed together to give a visitor the entire feel of the African safari trip across the 53 square-mile area. Although the climate is primarily that of a typical rain-forest, some regions consist of a mesh between grasslands and the highland forest.

Oh! Keep your eye out, lest you miss the giraffe amongst the bushes.

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Or zebras scuttling across the dirt road.

Or a herd of buffalos just chilling in the sun.

Or just the nice view of the Arusha National Park in its natural glory.

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Or Baboons just grooming each other.

Fun Fact: Grooming has plenty of hygienic benefits for baboons. But there are other ulterior motives as well. According to one study, a baboon would offer to groom another in exchange for benefits or a favor later on.

About an hour later, we found ourselves at the beautiful Momella Lakes, a system of alkaline lakes thought to be formed from the volcanic debris created when Mount Meru blew up thousands of years ago.

Makes for a good photo-shoot location!

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Animals don’t drink from these lakes because the waters are too alkaline. But you can spot a few zebras or buffalos at the shore enjoying the breeze (and the view!).

One thing you are sure to see is plenty of Flamingos.